The Survivors - Alex Shulman

Three brothers who have led separate adult lives return to a family cottage on a lake to scatter their mother's ashes.  Benjamin, the middle child and the one who kept the peace in their childhood reveals their past as they journey to the site.  The story is told out of sequence, both for the past and the present.  The reader knows there is a secret to be revealed but it takes forever to get there.  I don't know if this book suffered from the translation (it was originally written in Swedish) or if the dreamy, reflective, foreboding style just didn't work for me.  I found the jacket synopsis misleading and the ending left me scratching my head to convince myself that it made sense.  The writing is rich with atmosphere and paints vivid images of the boys' memories and their present lives, which kept me reading but never coalesced into a coherent story.  

Published:  2021  Read: November 2021  Genre: Fiction

The Psychopath - Mary Turner Thompson

 Sub-title: A True Story

Mary Thompson tells her story of having been married to a con artist, manipulator and psychopath - a man with no empathy for anyone including himself.  She shares her reclaiming her life and regaining her self-esteem, explores the reasons she was susceptible to his charm and champions herself and others who have the courage to speak out after experiencing toxic people.  She previously wrote the story of finding out her husband was already married and had many women he had taken advantage of, fathering more than a dozen children and continuing to prey on trusting women in her first book, Bigamist.  

This was a disturbing book to read.  The first questions that comes to mind is "why didn't she figure it out sooner", as a way I think to feel that we would never have been in her situation.  Yet after reading her straightforward account and her honest assessment I think everyone can imagine a time when they too may have been vulnerable to this kind of deception.  

Quotes

"I could only respect the men who disrespected me, because at least they knew who I really was and what I deserved"

"...hating someone else is like taking poison and expecting them to die."

"Remember that 'No' is a complete sentence and doesn't need any clarification."

Four 'control dramas' -- interrogator,  intimidator, aloof, and the poor me."

"People should be able to relax and say what they think, and at the same time feel their partner supports and loves them. If that is not happening then it might not be the right relationship. "

Published: 2021 Read: November 2021 Genre: Memoir

Antiquities - Cynthia Ozick

 

A strange little book.  An elderly man is a surviving trustee of an English boys boarding school, living in the converted school with a handful of other trustees.  He is writing his memoir, reflecting on his time as a boy at the school and his life now.  The jacket said it reflects "on shifting perspectives on the past".  Having lived through WWII, the man recalls a Jewish boy who attended the school who told a fantastical story and would not accept his gift of antiques from Egypt.

I have to stop picking up books at the library on impulse!  It was fun to read but weird.  The title is a play on the antiques the man inherited from his father, supposed ancient artifacts from Egypt and the effect of time on his memory.  

Published: 2021  Read: November 2021  Genre: Fiction

As Husbands Go - Susan Isaacs

 

This was a fun read! A seemingly shallow, status obsessed 30 something woman, is the Mom of triplets, 3 four-year old boys, and married to a plastic surgeon.  She came from humbler beginnings and despises her parents and is looked down on by her in-laws.  When her husband doesn't show up her life is turned upside down.  Turns out he was found murdered in a prostitute's apartment.  It's a simple mystery story but its the way it is told that was engaging.  She's snarky, witty, and over-the-top absorbed with the high society life, name-dropping brands and designers.   Along the way, she struggles to find the truth of her husband's murder.  I'd read another book by this author.

Published: 2010   Read: November 2021  Genre: Fiction Mystery

Nudge - Richard H Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

 Sub-title: The Final Edition

I struggle getting through this book that became a bestseller when first published (2009).  It explains the how manipulating human tendencies can nudge them in a desired direction.  Something I first heard about back in the 70's in my college marketing class.  

Heralded as a "new and important" concept, its written by an economist and behavioral scientist who first outlines the psychological weaknesses and biases all humans have and then explains how they can be used to help them make better choices.  The new version acknowledges that nudges can unfortunately be used for nudging people in negative ways as well.  

I read it as a mea culpa for the unintended consequences of how his technique has been exploited. I didn't finish it.

I'm going back to fiction.

Published: 2021  Read: November  2021  Genre: Non-fiction